After leading his team to Champions League glory in the 2015-16 season, Cristiano Ronaldo could be facing the most crucial 18 months of his career, starting with the Euro final.
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“They shut up shop quite well and limited our opportunities, so fair do’s to them”.
A goal and an assist from Cristiano Ronaldo in the space of three second-half minutes sent Portugal into Sunday’s final and left Wales and their fans to reflect on an historic campaign.
“I am very happy and I am very proud of all my team-mates. This is a proud moment for us, we have achieved a lot”.
The tournament has rejuvenated the 29-year-old forward, who once stood out with Ronaldo at Manchester United – before his star began to fade and Ronaldo went on to even greater glory at Real Madrid.
“We’ve grown in confidence, we’ve grown in stature and I think we’ll be more respected”.
Ronaldo will have a chance to best Platini for the best scorer in Euro history when Portugal faces either Germany or France in the July 10 final in Paris.
He added: “We want to thank all the fans because the support we’ve had has been absolutely incredible”. We need some more of that.
“We have heard from our families and stuff like that…but this is the first time we are experiencing any of this and it is really special”.
“The hunger is there, the spirit is there and we’ll take all the positives from this and go into the next campaign trying to do it again”.
Wales kick off their bid to reach the 2018 World Cup in Russian Federation against Moldova at Cardiff City Stadium in September, in a group also featuring Austria, Serbia, Republic of Ireland and Georgia.
He said: “Of course we’ve had some very tough times this year, both with those tragic events but also with events that have gone on off the field. Nobody expected us to this far but we did”.
The Portuguese captain unleashed a wave of emotion at the final whistle as he celebrated his side’s win, but stopped to console his Madrid colleague Bale.
Wales was clearly missing the services of midfielder Aaron Ramsey and defender Ben Davies.
“It was important for us to get over the psychological barrier and qualify for the first tournament”, said Coleman.
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“The message is clear, its been a huge success story for Welsh football and I’m honoured to be a part of it”.
